SPARTANBURG, S.C. — As fullback Eric Breitenstein broke into the clear on fourth-and-1 he glanced back, first right and then left, before easing into the end zone for the game's first touchdown.

The University of New Hampshire football team couldn't catch the Walter Payton Award finalist on that play nor could it catch Wofford on Saturday in a 23-7 loss in the second round of the FCS playoffs at Gibbs Stadium.

“I thought Wofford did exactly what they needed to do to win the football game,” said UNH coach Sean McDonnell. “They ran the football very, very well as they always do.”

The Terriers ran over, through and around the Wildcats in a dominating ground attack that's not indicative of the score.

Wofford rushed for 454 yards, 247 by Breitenstein, who scored all three of his team's touchdowns, including a 54-yarder on the Terriers' fourth play from scrimmage.

He also scored on runs of 6 and 26 yards.

“He's fast,” McDonnell said. “He's got great vision. He sees things. It doesn't surprise me because that's who they are and what they do. He's as good in person as a couple people told me he was going to be and maybe a little bit better.”

The 454 yards rushing is only five shy of the most ever allowed by UNH set in 1965 against UMass.

The Wildcats gave up 869 yards on the ground in their last two games. Trying to defend the Terriers' unique triple option proved to be a major challenge.

“It was like teaching another language in two weeks,” McDonnell said. “Believe me, we had enough time to prepare. We didn't do as well as we should have. We're disappointed in what we gave up, but it's challenging.”

For whatever reason, the UNH was never the same on either side of the ball after its first bye week between the last two games of the regular season.

They had another two weeks off between the 64-35 loss to Towson and their first playoff game.

The Wildcats were outscored 87-42 in those two contests, including 57-14 over the final six quarters.

“It's the first year we've come into the playoffs not winning our last game,” McDonnell said. “There's a lot different feeling in my stomach that way than there has been in the past.”

UNH absorbed its third straight playoff loss and fourth in its last five postseason games, all on the road.

“We want better,” McDonnell said. “No one is satisfied with getting in the playoffs and losing in the first round. We've got to go back, look at what we do, work to improve it and try to figure out how we can become a better program that way.”

While Breitenstein was as good as advertised so was the Wofford defense, which held the Wildcats to 238 total yards and zero points.

Two of the Wildcats' worst offensive performances of the season came in the last two games. Their only touchdown on Saturday came on defense.

“Their defense did a great job stopping the run, stopping the pass and putting pressure on us,” said quarterback Sean Goldrich. “Give them credit. They wouldn't let us do what we wanted to do.”

UNH passed for 165 yards and ran for 73. The Terriers also had five sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

“Defensively, I'm not surprised (by) Wofford,” McDonnell said. “From watching the tape I thought those guys played downhill. Their front handled us pretty well and their linebackers did a great job blitzing gaps. They did a good defensive job of mixing some things up.”

UNH's only score came on a 14-yard fumble return by Cody Muller early in the third quarter that trimmed the deficit to 13-7.

It took the Terriers only five plays and less than two minutes to respond, with Breitenstein covering the final 71 yards of the 82-yard drive in two plays.

Fumble recoveries by Muller, Hayden Knudson and Jared Smith enabled the Wildcats to stay in the game.

“Defensively we caused a couple turnovers,” McDonnell said. “We made some fourth-down stops and scored a touchdown. If you told me that ... I would have told you it would have been a much closer game and we probably had a chance to win it.”

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One of the few bright spots on Saturday was the play linebacker Alan Buzbee made to set up Muller's fumble return.

“It was a great play by Alan Buzbee,” Muller said. “His hit on the pitch man — the running back — popped the ball free. As soon as the kid caught it Alan was there. The ball was on the ground. We work on it every day in practice: scoop and score. We call it country ball.”

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In addition to catching a game-high 11 passes for 78 yards, R.J. Harris became the first Wildcat receiver to go over 1,000 yards for a season since Plymouth's Mike Boyle did it in 2008.

Harris is the fifth overall at UNH to reach that plateau.

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Despite nursing an ankle injury, cornerback Dontra Peters was expected to play Saturday.

However, after taking part in pregame warmups he had taken off his pads by the time he returned to the field for the coin toss.

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Wofford College doubles as the training facility for the NFL's Carolina Panthers.